Toulouse 21 Biarritz 19: Toulouse make history

The aristocratic institution of European rugby won their fourth Heineken Cup but left fans shaking like leaves for the last six minutes

Shaun Sowerby drives forward during the Heineken Cup final (David Rogers/Getty Images)
The great aristocratic institution of European rugby won their fourth Heineken
European Cup and yet the legions of their supporters who helped to create an
electric atmosphere must have been shaking like leaves for the last six
minutes.

The arrogant assumption by Toulouse was that a 21-12 lead with less than 10
minutes to go and all the momentum in the world was enough to secure
victory. They started bringing on their bench, with departing players waving
merrily to the followers in triumph, as if the job was done.

But from somewhere a Biarritz team that had been ground down inexorably,
especially by the monster Toulouse front five, found an heroic attacking
spark, bringing it back to 21-19 with a try by Karmichael Hunt and still
with scoring time on the clock.

Suddenly, with Biarritz swarming forward and with all the Toulouse leaders off
the field, they had to grab